Distraction
by Wonderstorm
Summary: Set between chapter 7 and chapter 8 of The Rising Force.  A fever leaves Obi-Wan dangerously ill.  Qui-Gon has to come to the aid of the Jedi student whom he thought he was done with.


**A/N: Originally written around October 2009. That mysterious fever that put Obi-Wan in the _Monument's_ sick bay seemed to come out of nowhere, so I just had to write this story to explain it. Rated K+ for scary situations.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars; that would be way too much work. That right belongs to George Lucas (I think). I'm not making any money off this story, but I did make a lot of fun off it.**

Distraction

Qui-Gon Jinn strode past stained and dented walls on his way to Clat-Ha's cabin. The tarnished ship was a tribute to the laziness of Hutts. Clat-Ha had summoned him with the news that she needed to discuss something important with him, although she had not explained the matter further.

Had Obi-Wan managed to find his room yet?

Irritation filled him as the thought leaped suddenly into his mind. He was hardly responsible for the boy's welfare! Just because both of them had ended up on the same ship going to the same planet, didn't mean that they were working on the same mission. His work had nothing to do with Obi-Wan's. When he was done with his mission on Bandomeer, it was very likely that he would never see Obi-Wan again, unless by some remote chance the will of the Force brought him back to this distant planet. He would forget about Obi-Wan once he arrived and started his work, he was sure. He exhaled slowly and drew upon the Force to clear his distracted mind. He had more important matters to concentrate on. Obi-Wan would become a fine farmer. And he himself would continue his solitary path as a Jedi Knight. Whatever the Force would bring into his life, he resolved that his path would stay solitary.

He was passing the sick bay when he felt a tremendous ripple in the Force wash over him. He stopped and turned to the door of the sick bay. So great a disturbance in the Force would mean that one of the patient's conditions was critical. He pressed the button to open the door, somehow knowing whom he was going to find on the other side.

Qui-Gon stepped through the door into a dimly lit transparisteel corridor. The patients were kept in separate rooms, and he walked quickly past door after door in his search. When he found the door from which the Force waves were rolling, he pressed the button and stepped inside.

The unruly auburn hair that he had expected to see met his eyes immediately. A female Human medic, whom he recognized from his study of this mission's details as Brella, was fitting an oxygen mask over Obi-Wan's mouth and nose. The young Jedi's eyes were closed, and Qui-Gon could not see his chest move at all.

"What happened?" he asked, managing to keep the fear from his voice only because of his Jedi training. A medic droid floated to him.

"A Hutt found the boy on the Offworld side of the ship and beat him into unconsciousness. He suffered a moderate concussion," the droid reported. "We gave him a small dose of taileth nectar to ease the swelling, but he had a severe allergic reaction to it. His throat swelled up, and his body temperature is still rising. To counteract the effects of the nectar, we administered krialti." The droid waved its thin arm to indicate the cannulas protruding from Obi-Wan's arms. "The krialti reversed the effects somewhat, so we've managed to open his airway. He is breathing, but just barely."

Qui-Gon stepped closer to the bed. Of course, the medics at the Jedi Temple did keep and use taileth nectar, but the nectar was used for more serious wounds, the kinds of wounds that Jedi students did not normally receive. Obi-Wan had apparently never before been exposed to taileth nectar; therefore, this allergy would not be entered into his medical holofiles. Any treatment which utilized bacta, with all of its miraculous medical properties, was out of the question, since bacta could only be used to heal external injuries. It would be poisonous for Humans if it was taken internally.

He let his fingers lightly brush Obi-Wan's flushed cheek. The Force tendrils that curled through his searching fingers made his heart stagger.

Obi-Wan's connection to the Living Force was fading slowly. Brella confirmed his discovery seconds later.

"His fever is rising uncontrollably. All of the healing techniques and medicines I've tried are ineffective. If his body temperature keeps going up, he'll die," she said, a slight break in her voice.

Somehow Qui-Gon managed to find his voice in the midst of the fog her words seemed to create. "Perhaps I can help." Was that really his voice speaking those calm words? He did not feel remotely calm as he sat on the edge of the bed and placed his large hands over Obi-Wan's temples. He gathered the Force within himself and pushed against the fear poisoning him. He knew it would be impossible to maintain the tranquil feeling that his connection to the Force usually gave him, not now. In order to help Obi-Wan, he had to use the Force to keep his fear at bay.

Qui-Gon reached out to the surrounding Force and drew it closer. Why had he not kept an eye on the boy? Why hadn't he escorted him to his new room so that no Offworld miners would have even thought of harming him? He continued to wrap the Force around them, concentrating it through his hands and into Obi-Wan's body. What was it that he had said to Yoda—"If he doesn't get himself killed"? How could he have known that Obi-Wan would collide with death before he even got off the transport?

"Come back, Obi-Wan," he murmured. He could hardly feel the boy's chest rising, and the heartbeat he discerned was weak and rapid. But as the minutes lengthened and he kept patiently weaving strands of the Force, he detected something else. Obi-Wan's connection to the Living Force was strengthening, as slowly as a Bantha plodding through sand but as surely as the Force coursing through the galaxy. He guessed that the krialti must have finally neutralized the taileth nectar. The healing power of the Force had sustained and revived the young Jedi.

Qui-Gon exhaled, at last able to let the fear go. Obi-Wan was inhaling shaky breaths of air, and the flush was ebbing from his face. One of the medic droids scanned Obi-Wan electronically while Brella consulted the adjacent machine recording his vital signs.

"The boy is apyretic," the droid said in astonishment. Qui-Gon knew it was unheard of for a fever to drop so quickly in Humans. He smiled. The Force had done its work well.

Brella placed her hand on Obi-Wan's forehead.

"Thank you, Jedi," she said with a smile of weary relief to match Qui-Gon's own.

"I can monitor him," Qui-Gon offered. "You may attend to your other patients." Brella thanked him and departed, holding two datapads in one hand and perusing a third.

Qui-Gon watched Obi-Wan closely as he let the Force flow through him in order to warn him of any changes in Obi-Wan's condition. He would stay until the boy regained consciousness; then he would find Clat-Ha.

He did not like the way that the will of the Force was moving. He had barely boarded the transport, and already he seemed to be bound to Obi-Wan's fate.

_Just a coincidence._

"Coincidence, nothing is. No accidents there are in the Force." Yoda's instruction echoed back to him from his Padawan days. He thanked the Force that he had been able to save the boy, but Obi-Wan was nothing more than a distraction, an impatient distraction who would surely only cause more trouble. He had no use for an apprentice like that, or any apprentice at all. He was done with Padawans for the rest of his life.

And the Force had better not have other plans.

*The End*

**A/N: Krialti and taileth nectar are both my own creation. I also made up the fact that bacta would be poisonous for humans if it was taken internally. I tried to make a story that showed that Qui-Gon did care about Obi-Wan, but he wasn't ready for another apprentice just yet. I don't really see Qui-Gon as an indifferent or unfeeling Master; he's much too kindhearted to be indifferent. Although his and Obi-Wan's friendship didn't seem very friendly, I see it as a relationship in which they were used to each other's company, and didn't need to use many words to express themselves. Read and review, Star Wars fans!**


End file.
